Lies - how to begin? Well, I suppose the best thing is to use the dictionary definition of what a lie is - "a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; a falsehood,something intended or serving to convey a false impression; imposture." Well, we have all been a little economical with the truth, usually in childhood to cover up some naughtiness, in adulthood more complex reasons, including the wish for someone not to get hurt if the truth is revealed. However, there are some people who are practised in deceit, crooks, killers, thieves and most of those who seek to deceive by claiming themselves to be what they are not. The advent of the internet has made it possible for rampant deceit to rage unfettered - so-and-so claims to be a policeman, a journalist, a solicitor, rich - the list is endless. But lies often backfire on the one telling them. One small 'fib' can escalate, growing larger and larger until it becomes obvious to even the dimmest person that it is all a load of cobblers. We get to see this on the internet in a way we never saw it before the world went viral. I wonder what kinds of lies we would have been subjected to if Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini had had the internet at their fingertips? Remember Hitler's whopper about 'no territorial rights'? Or Stalin's lies about what he would do to Europe once he got his grubby, bloodstained hands on it after WW2? And now we have a plethora of liars proliferating their stupid falsehoods worldwide. If you are going to lie, make sure you have your 'facts' straight and that you haven't already given other versions to the world. For example, if you say your dad died on 5 November, don't some time later say he died on Boxing Day - it makes you look a fool and makes people very wary of believing you in the future. At least, if you are going to lie, do it with style! Or better still, don't lie in the first place. As I write, we have one habitual liar bleating on about abuse, and blaming her parents for what happened to her. Maybe they shouldn't have put her into care, maybe they couldn't cope, maybe she was difficult and she had to be sent away for her own safety and that of the rest of the family. Who knows? But she lies again and again, unable to tell the truth most of the time. Could it be that her need to lie is rooted in her childhood, maybe a need to be loved and wanted? Again, who knows? If she wasn't such a manipulative person, I might feel sorry for her, but then again I don't tolerate liars.
